Four individuals, including a female, have been arrested by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) for allegedly being involved in a sophisticated mobile money and SIM swap fraud scheme, which led to the loss of GHC113,947.57 cedis from one of Ghana’s largest banks.
The accused, Richmond Donkor (alias Chino), Celicia Asabere, Salifu Eshum, and Daniel Asomani Baawiah, have been charged with conspiracy to steal.
Donkor is facing additional charges of stealing and altering forged documents (ECOWAS Identity Card), while Asabere and Eshum are jointly facing charges of abetment of stealing.
Eshum is also charged with altering a forged document, specifically the ECOWAS ID card. Although the accused pleaded guilty with an explanation, the prosecution asked for remand so that the EOCO could complete its investigations by arresting Derrick Obeng, who is considered to be the mastermind of the crime.
Following a complaint from a bank on February 14, 2024, that an amount of GHC113,947,57 had been stolen from six of its customers’ bank accounts through the mobile money and SIM swap fraud scheme, police in Kasoa arrested the suspected individuals on March 2, 2024, after receiving a tip-off.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the accused individuals, with the help of some unscrupulous individuals within Vodafone, AT (Airtel Tigo), and the bank in question, swapped mobile phone numbers associated with specific bank accounts without the knowledge of the actual account holders.
This allowed them to take control of the account holders’ banking channels, such as mobile applications and USSD, allowing them to transfer funds from the victims’ accounts to various bank accounts and mobile money accounts.
As per the prosecution, Donkor and Asabere used an altered ECOWAS ID Card GHA 001091841-0 in the name of William Agyei Kwarteng to swap the phone number attributed to the bank account number 2030200665017 belonging to William Agyei Kwarteng.
They then transferred a total of GHC33,850 from the account to bank account numbers 2030438618518 and 2100438618512 belonging to Asabere.
Asabere withdrew the funds immediately after the accounts were credited. Additionally, Donkor and Eshum sent GHC5,000 to Vodafone cash number 050933002, which belonged to Eshum’s brother, Razak Salifu.
The bank account numbers 140017171276519 and 2030171276510 belonging to Comfort Asamoah-Adu were also taken over, resulting in a total transfer of GHC10,341.2 from those accounts to MTN mobile number 0535385917 belonging to Eshum.
Furthermore, the bank account number 2030171273319 belonging to Patrick Kwadwo Yeboah was also taken over, and an amount of GHC10,000 was transferred to a mobile phone number 0535385917 belonging to Eshum.
Finally, the prosecution said that in an elaborate social engineering scheme, Baawiah attempted to steal an unspecified amount of money belonging to Muhibatu Abdul-Bassit through her AT (Airtel Tigo) cash number 0267029019.
The accused persons are expected to reappear in court on March 27, 2024. The court remanded the accused individuals based on the gravity of the offense and to prevent further interference.
Donkor’s defense counsel sought bail for his client, claiming that he was gainfully employed and had a fixed place of abode, and his charges were bailable. However, the court exercised its discretion in favor of the prosecution.